The Perfect Pint

You may have recently seen the commercials from Samuel Adams about their new innovative pint glass. They have dubbed it the "Perfect Pint". Supposedly the glass was designed specifically for Samuel Adams' flagship beer, Boston Lager, which incidentally I am a fan of. The glass has a distinct look as you can see from the photo. It has a laser etched ring in the bottom that it is supposed to consistently release bubbles adding to the overall aroma and flavour of the beer. The bulb at the top of the glass serves two purposes. First it concentrates the beer away from your hand, so as not to warm the beer unnecessarily. Secondly, it is supposed to collect hop aromas. The thinner glass also is supposed to help maintain temperature. The rim is known as the "turbulator" which is meant to create turbulence as the beer enters the mouth in order to release more flavour.

All that sounds pretty cool, but also kind of like a bunch of bullshit. Needless to say I was sceptical. Over the summer one of my roommates bought me a Perfect Pint, so I decided to do a side by side comparison using the libation the glass was designed for. I got my boys together and we all bought a Sammy along with five other beers each from Pioneer on Columbus (Upper West Side NYC). After we were a couple deep and had a nice buzz I poured one Boston Lager into the Perfect Pint and one into a regular pint glass.

We each took a few swigs from each, cleansing our palette with water and peanuts between each glass. We then recorded our observations. All and all it was real scientific. All three of us were quite surprised at the results of our taste testing. James claimed that Boston Lager out of the Perfect Pint was much "brighter" with slightly more flavour. Adam observed that there was more carbonation, that the "hops/bitterness were brought out slightly," and that it had a more comfortable mouth feel. I believe that the glass really brings out the hop aroma. The flavour was noticeably better out of the perfect pint especially when it came to hops. We were all amazed at the sustained carbonation the glass provided. The bubbles were still going strong long after the conventional pint glass had settled down. The glass definitely lived up to the hype created by the ad campaign, especially considering we all thought it was a bunch of malarkey. We then poured a Sam into a Guinness pint glass which had a slight bulb at the top and thinner glass. It was no contest. The Perfect Pint triumphed. The dudes at Sam Adams know what they are doing. Please enjoy pictures from the night.

James and Adam playing hold em. I won.


Typical drinking pic. Notice that Adam is drinking beer out of a shot glass.


Matt Redleader playing the role of life of the party


We got Matt a sixer of chocolate milk because he doesn't drink.


James is engaged. Meems is one lucky lady.


Beer is not just a drink, but a state of mind.


A German board game we play.

What we drank:


What I'm drinking now:
Stone Pale Ale and Chatoe Rogue First Growth Wet Hop Ale
What I'm listening to:
Beatles white album and Rancid "and out come the wolves"